Finland celebrates its 100th Independence Day today, and to join in with the celebrations, we've listed 10 of the best pieces of Finnish inventions and technology.

Finland has a strong history of creating hardware and technology that changes the world, as you’ll soon discover as you go through this list.

So many incredible pieces of tech, things that you can’t imagine the world without today. Let’s take a look at just ten…

Nokia 1100

When it comes to legendary pieces of tech, few things have the recognition that Nokia phones do, and the 1100 might be king among them all. The, at-the-time, tiny wonder was a revelation, and to top it off, Finland invented SMS messages too. Where would we be without them?

The Heart Rate Monitor

Originally invented as a training aid for the Finnish National Cross Country Ski Team, the Heart Rate Monitor is now an essential piece of kit for many people’s daily lives, either for fitness tracking, or health reasons.

Savonius Wind Turbine

Wind Turbines are everywhere, and the Savonius Wind Turbine, while not the most efficient, is one of the easiest to run. You probably see them regularly, on the tops of vans to keep them cool.

N-Gage

Mobile gaming is all the rage today - as indicated by the site you’re reading this on - but the N-Gage tried to take things a step further. Essentially a phone which could play Game Boy Advance-style era games, it was a great idea, very poorly executed.

Microsoft Lumia

Microsoft’s smartphone range might not have taken the world by storm, but the Lumia will hold a special place in the hearts of those that owned one. Shame it had no apps, though…

Mobira Senator

Imagine a world where mobile phones didn’t exist. Madness! Luckily, the Mobira company wanted to change that, and their first step was introducing car phones, like this 10kg behemoth that sat in your vehicle. Not exactly a “mobile” phone, mind…

Mobira Cityman 900

Ah, now this is a bit more portable. The Senator was nice, but the Cityman 900 can actually be taken around with you. Weighing less than a kilo, it was the most portable phone available at the time, if you can believe it!

KONE Elevators

Stairs are the bane of the human existence, which is why we’re so thankful to KONE. The company has the technology for elevators that can travel to heights of a kilometre, and the MonoSpace and MiniSpace elevators take us up narrow passages in smaller buildings.

Improvised explosives

As it turns out, the Finnish are incredible good at making explosives out of nothing. Molotov Cocktails were originally a Finnish invention, turning whatever they had handy into deadly weapons, and the Satchel Charge was essentially whatever they had handy (a satchel?) loaded with explosives and left in a good position, like a railway or a bunker.

Linux

Okay so it’s not technically “hardware” but Linux has changed many facets of the world around us. The world’s favourite open source OS has powered thousands of devices, and only continues to rise in popularity - and yes, it was coded by Finnish developers. Thank them the next time you flick on your Steam Machine or your PS3!